Volume 69 (2014), 3

The present article is the second part of a longer paper in which we outline a model of (scientific) method as a system of instructions aimed at a certain kind of (cognitively interesting) goal. The article offers a detailed explication of the notion of instruction in terms of binary relations between certain kinds of states. Instructions are taken as imperatives… Read more

The problem of normality is the key topic in the works of Georges Canguilhem. He concerned himself with this theme during his whole academic life: one can find more than one exclusive analysis of the normality in his writings. Canguilhem’s first influential text, namely his dissertation thesis on the normal and the pathological (as well as the appendix from 1966)… Read more

The article presents selected aspects of Xenophanes’ philosophy (especially B 34 and B 18 Diels-Kranz) in the light of Homer’s thought. First of all, skepticism should be distinguished from negative dogmatism. I will therefore use the term “skepticism” (from Greek skeptomai – explore, examine, consider, think) in accordance with Sextus Empiricus’ typology. In his… Read more

The present article focuses on the dramatic context of Plato’s dialogue Phaedo tracing in it, in one hand, a confrontation of philosophical and poetical approaches and, intertextual references to the Apology on the other hand. Consequently, Plato’s intention as the author seems to be double: take a “revenge” for the trial and execution of Socrates, as well as to… Read more

Critical reflections on Homer ́s work have been an integral part of Greek philosophy from its very beginning. In ancient Roman philosophy Homer excited the interest of Marcus Tullius Cicero. The aim of the article is to outline Cicero’s reflections on Homer as well as to explore one of the most original Cicero’s interpretations of Homer focusing on the… Read more

The first part of the paper outlines the status of the genre of epideictic literature in the 5th century BC as well as the Gorgianic figures of speech as found in the Ancient handbooks of rhetoric. The second part deals with the methods of argumentation (apagōge and eikos) used by Gorgias in his speeches Encomium of Helen and Defence of Palamedes. The final part… Read more

The article examines two interpretations of several verses of the famous Greek lyric poet Pindar. Pindar’s poem has not been preserved; its probably introductory verses were recorded by Plato in the dialogue Gorgias. However, the verses are not declaimed by Socrates, but by his greatest opponent in the dialogue – a young aspiring Athenian politician Callicles.… Read more